SIP has become a widely-used signaling protocol for creating and managing multimedia communication services over a network, such as the Internet. Systems and methods for handling SIP communications typically employ components that identify SIP user agents and then route communications to the correct user agents. These components may include an outbound proxy, an inbound proxy, a registrar, and a user location service.
A SIP system may be accomplished by a single device that includes all of the components of the system, including the outbound proxy, the inbound proxy, the registrar, and the user location service. In such a scenario, however, the SIP proxy has a finite capacity, is physically limited to deployment in a single location, and is not cost effective. Alternatively, the SIP components may be scaled across various hardware components in order to distribute processing load of the services. Scaling in this manner, however, is still limited due to the relatively small number of SIP components that may be scaled or separated. Additionally, distributing the actual components across different systems or physical locations causes one or more of the components to become inoperable or unusable.
The present invention recognizes and addresses the foregoing considerations, and others, of prior art construction and methods.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elements of the invention.